E. coli Water Contamination in Texas Restaurant Under Investigation
E. coli contamination in water caused Fralo’s Pizza of Leon Springs, Texas to be temporarily shut down, although the restaurant reopened this week, according to local news sources. Dozens of diners and restaurant employees reportedly became sick after eating at the restaurant, and these contamination problems began at the same time a sewage leak occurred across the street from the restaurant.
Health officials have not attributed the restaurant’s water contamination to the spill, which involves up to 400,000 gallons of sewage that leaked into the ground. However, tests of the restaurant’s water are now showing no contamination as health officials continue to investigate the source of the problem.
“It is very hard to determine because there are so many factors that can impact water quality especially from a well, such as septic tanks,” said Sarah Gateswood of San Antonio Water System. “We know the area has a lot of septic tanks. The most important thing is for people to rest assured that the tests we are taking are coming back clean.”
The restaurant owner said he will hire a firm to regularly test the well. Right now, as an extra safety precaution, Fralo’s Pizza is still testing the water every day.
Sources:
http://www.ksat.com/news/24735142/detail.html
http://www.saws.org/latest_news/NewsDrill.cfm?news_id=702
E. coli in Water Supply Prompts Advisory in New York Community
Residents of Green Acres Mobile Home Park in Hornellsville, New York will have to boil their water as a precaution against E. coli contamination, according to local news sources. The Steuben County Department of Public Health and Nursing Services issued the advisory this weekend after some of the park’s water tested positive for E. coli, which is a harmful pathogen that can cause serious health effects, especially to the elderly and children.
“Over the weekend, the health department did some testing and they did find E. coli in one portion of the park,” town supervisor Ken Isaman said. “They also discovered that not only is city water being used there, but one of the old wells is serving the park. But those wells were supposed to be discontinued when they started using city water … The whole park is under a boil water advisory.”
Underground piping may have leaks or be failing, Isaman told news sources, and there are repairs that need to be made by the trailer park operator and a whole new infrastructure will have to be put in place in the community of about 50 residents. Water tests indicated a lack of chlorine in the park’s water supply, meaning that well water, which shouldn’t have been used, was being used in place of city water, Isaman said.
E. coli Well Water Contamination
Elliot Olsen, an E. coli attorney has represented people sickened by E. coli contaminated well water. “Our client was a family living in a rental property in rural Iowa when their toddler became sick with E. coli from the property’s contaminated well water,” Olsen said. “She then developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or E. coli HUS, and had to undergo extensive medical treatment. The effects of contaminated water can be just as serious as the effects of food poisoning, and well owners and operators need to understand that.”
Source:
http://www.eveningtribune.com/topstories/x2092794659/E-Coli-found-at-Green-Acres-trailer-park
E. coli Prevention Research Focuses on Scottish Farmers
Certain farmers in the Grampain region in the north of Scotland are, to some degree, immune to the deadly bacteria Escherichia coli O157:H7, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) reports. Researchers at Bangor University in Wales tested about 200 Scottish farmers from Grampain and North Wales and it was found that about one-fifth of the farmers, or roughly 20 percent, are at least partially immune to E. coli O157:H7. The report was published August 8 on Scotsman.com.
Researcher Dr. Prysor Williams said: “We are taking small samples of blood and saliva and looking for antibodies in the samples. That will tell us if that individual has been exposed to 0157. If antibodies are present it shows that that individual has a degree of immunity because all the volunteers are not patients.”
The story reports that the study’s findings could help in the search for an E. coli vaccine, and that repeated exposure over a long period of time may be protecting these farmers from the otherwise harmful pathogen. The Scotsman story reports that the Grampain region is said to have one of the highest E. coli infection rates in the world, and results of the study suggest a much higher rate of antibodies among that region’s population. According to the story:
Rates of E coli 0157 in Scotland are higher than the rest of the UK. Last year, there were 4.6 cases per 100,000 people in Scotland, compared with fewer than two per 100,000 in England. In Grampian there were 11.1 cases per 100,000…The reasons for the higher rates in Scotland remain unclear.
Valley Meat Beef Recall Follows E. coli Outbreak
Valley Meat Company of Modesto, CA has recalled one million pounds of ground beef following an E. coli outbreak in California, according to the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Seven people have been sickened in the outbreak, which federal health officials began investigating in July after receiving notification from the California Department of Public Health regarding a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 cases that all matched the same PFGE pattern, or “genetic fingerprint.”
Distributed to institutional foodservice facilities and retail locations in Arizona, California, Texas and Oregon, the beef products were manufactured from Oct. 2009-Jan. 2010. The establishment number on the recalled frozen beef products is EST. 8268 and the production codes are 25709 through 01210. FSIS will post retail distribution information updates as that information becomes available. The FSIS is concerned that consumers may still have frozen recalled product in their freezers at home that could potentially be contaminated. FSIS advises consumers to check freezers to see if any of the following recalled products are there, and discard them immediately:
Valley Meat Company Beef Recall: Product Details
- (#2155) *IQF* 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 8/1R
- (#2503) SMASHBURGER 40/7 OZ. – VAC PACK
- (#2510) IQF 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 2/1 OVAL
- (#2515) *IQF* 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 2/1 R
- (#2535) IQF 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 3/1 OVAL
- (#2545) IQF 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 3/1R
- (#2575) *IQF* 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 4/1R
- (#2595) IQF – 80/20% PATTIES 4/1R THIN
- (#2605) *IQF* 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 5/1R
- (#2635) *IQF* 80/20% BEEF PATTIES 6/1R
- (#2668) BEEF CHUCK PATTIES 7 OZ- 21#
- (#3075) *IQF* 85/15% PATTIES 4/1R USFI
- (#3090) ‘RPQ’ 85/15 PATTIES 160/4 OZ.
- (#3325) “RPQ” 90/10 BEEF PATTIES 40/4 OZ
- (#3350) 90/10% BEEF PATTIES 160/4 OZ.
- (#3450)SUPREMAS BEEF PATTIES 12/3#
- (#3519) *IQF* 4/1 SOY PATTIES 80/20%
- (#3520) *IQF* 5/1 SOY PATTIES 80/20%
- (#3522) *IQF* 6/1 SOY PATTIES 80/20%
- (#3675) BEEF SOY PATTIES RETAIL 6/5#
- (#3700) 73/27% RETAIL PATTIES – 12/3#
- (#3705) 73/27% RETAIL PATTIES – 6/5#
- (#3710) 73/27% RETAIL PATTIES – 8/3#
- (#3715) BIGGER VALLEY BURGER – 6/5#
- (#3725) 80/20 BIGGER BURGER 12/3#
- (#3751) 80/20% RETAIL PATTIES 12/3#
- (#3800) 85/15% RETAIL PATTIES – 12/3#
- (#3850) BLACK ANGUS BURGER 12/2# BOX
- (#3875) 93/7% BEEF PATTIES 12/3# RETAIL
- (#3880) SAFEWAY 73/27 RETAIL BOXES 8#
- (#3882) SAFEWAY 73/27 PATTIES 12/2.5#
- (#3883) SAFEWAY 80/20 PATTIES 12/2.5#
- (#4000) 73/27% GROUND BEEF 10/1#
- (#4001) 73/27% GROUND BEEF 20/2#
- (#4005) 73/27% GROUND BEEF – 40/1#
- (#4015) 73/27% GROUND BEEF 4/5#
- (#4020) 73/27% GROUND BEEF – 8/5#
- (#4030) 73/27% GROUND BEEF 4/10#
- (#4035) 73/27% GROUND BEEF 15/3#
- (#4300) 80/20% GROUND BEEF 10/1#
- (#4305) 80/20% GROUND BEEF – 40/1#
- (#4310) 80/20% GROUND BEEF 4/5#
- (#4315) 80/20% GROUND BEEF 8/5#
- (#4325) 80/20% GROUND BEEF – 4/10#
- (#4326)*FRESH** 80/20% GROUND BEEF 4/10#
- (#4328)80/20 GROUND BEEF 4/10# WHITE BOX
- (#4329) ‘RPQ’ 80/20% GROUND BEEF 4/10#
- (#4335)80/20% GROUND BEEF 2/5# – PRINTED
- (#4610) 85/15% GROUND BEEF 4/5#
- (#4615) 85/15% GROUND BEEF 8/5#
- (#4625) “RPQ” 85/15% GROUND BEEF 4/10#
- (#4630) 85/15% G B 4/10# CLEAR-generic
- <>(#4915) 90/10% GROUND BEEF – 8/5#
- (#4925) 90/10% GROUND BEEF 4/10# / WHITE
- (#4930) 90/10% G B 4/10# / CLEAR-generic
- (#4980) 93/7% GROUND BEEF 4/10#
- (2714) HEARST 80/20 PATTIES 5/1R -10#
- (2715) HEARST GROUND BEEF 12/1# RETAIL
E. coli food poisoning infections can lead to life-threatening complications such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (E.coli HUS) especially in children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems. Anyone who thinks they may have an E. coli infection from contaminated ground beef should visit a doctor immediately and get tested for the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.
Drug-Resistant E. coli Strain Emerging, Research Shows
A new strain of drug-resistant E. coli poses an emerging health concern, according to a study to be published this week in the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, led by Dr. James Johnson of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Cases of this strain, E. coli ST131, have been reported across the United States and in several countries, researchers say.
During 2007, researchers tested 127 patients infected with E. coli that appeared resistant to cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Of those cases, 54 were shown to be from this new strain, E. coli ST131.
“If this strain gains one additional resistance gene, it will become almost untreatable and will be a true superbug, which is a very concerning scenario,” Johnson said. he went on to tell local news sources that, “Fortunately, there’s still one big class of drugs that [E. coli ST131 is] so far universally susceptible to,” but that those drugs are “our last line of defense.”
More research into new antibiotics, plus exercising caution when using antibiotics, are two key elements needed to address this concern, according to health experts.
Sources:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/99668604.html?page=2&c=y
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38495130/ns/health-infectious_diseases/
